Brake Fluid at 60k? Maintenance Questions

My 2004 at 220,000 miles is still on the original brake fluid. I say pass on that until much later.

I waited till 100k miles for the PCV Valve (along with the coolant loops -2 and the Plugs).

Changing out the ATF is a good idea. I've done it three times now.

JeffD

 

Brake goes bad primarily due to humidity, since USA is a bit vague, humidity ranging from Death Valley to Honolulu, it is hard to guess the best advice.

I would change every 2 years in a high humidity climate, and never in Death Valley. Here in MS, I expect to change at 4 years.

 

This shop that you go to, have they in hand a Toyota factory level scan tool? If not, then they should not be suggesting engine coolant and brake fluid changes. Neither of these are things that you need to do at 60K anyway.

 

I would do brake flush and engine/inverter coolants at 60k, but then my middle name should be overkill. You can do the coolant service without Techstream as you can cycle the inverter pump by turning the car on/off. The engine coolant loop is a bit harder to bleed without tech stream but I believe someone on this forum showed a way to activate the pump by jumping some of the wires.

For the brake flush you do need Techstream, but I would not be surprised if some high-end aftermarket scan tools now have the capability to handle this. Ask the shop how they plan to do the brake flush on the Prius and you should know from their answer, if they are familiar with the procedure.

 

Short of changing the fluid, these "Strip-Dip" brake fluid test strips are the next best thing;

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-v...fluid-test-strips-definitely-worth-money.html

I test the brake fluid every year or so. I used to change it every 3 years, but these test strips have convinced me otherwise. My 14 year old Mazada MPV's brake fluid still tests good. Best of all, the brakes work fine.

 

as with most prius owners you probably rarely use the conventional hydraulic brakes, instead you use regenerative braking most of the time, most get 150K miles from the pads, some get that much out of the rotors (maybe in death valley) but rotors are made out of iron and they begin rusting the moment they are cleaned and installed. I just changed my rotors at 51K miles (2004) because the rust had made it "over the top" and made contact with the pads, causing weird noises and vibrations, I am told this causes heat and premature pad wear, I changed my rotors with cheap ones from advance auto, I also lubed the caliper slides and cleaned out the rear drums of trapped brake dust.

I hope you already changed your transaxle fluid (simple drain and fill with toyota ATF world standard), the first one should be done at 30-40K with subsequent ones every 60-70K miles thereafter.